NEW HOUSE RULES WILL KILL CONSTRUCTION JOBS, SAY BISHOP AND INDUSTRY LEADERS
WASHINGTON—Today, Congressman Tim Bishop delivered a statement on the Floor of the House drawing attention to a provision in the new Rules package passed by the Republican majority that will further depress employment in the struggling construction industry and lead to the deterioration of vital transportation infrastructure.
The provision removes the "firewall" that separates the federal Highway Trust Fund, financed by the federal gas tax, from general revenue funds. The change will make it harder for states to plan multi-year construction projects such as highway improvements and public-transit systems by subjecting transportation funding to the uncertainty of the annual appropriations process.
"The House Republican-proposed rules package for the 112th Congress, unfortunately, would… inject further uncertainty into an already destabilized U.S. transportation construction marketplace," a coalition of business, industry and labor groups including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, the Associated General Contractors of America and the American Trucking Association wrote in a letter to House leadership this week.
The coalition's letter added that the provision will "hurt investment in transportation infrastructure, reduce jobs, and break faith with the American taxpayer." The full text is available at http://downloads.transportation.org/Rules_Change_Letter_122810.pdf
"Mr. Speaker, this is the wrong time to back away from investments in our infrastructure and job creation, and yet this is exactly what will result from this job-killing rule," Bishop said in his floor statement today. Video is available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTiGBHkwSXo.
The full text of Bishop's statement follows:
"Mr. Speaker, the Republican rules package passed Wednesday included a change that could be extremely damaging to our nation’s highway and transit systems over the long term – and to the construction industry, where record unemployment remains twice the national average.
Simply put, this rule is a job killer. The new rule will treat Highway Trust Fund revenue as general spending, tearing down firewalls that prevent funds being siphoned off for unrelated projects. Removing the “Trust” in the Highway Trust Fund will severely inhibit States’ ability to plan large, multi-year transportation projects to improve this nation’s aging infrastructure over the long term and to create construction jobs in the process.
But, don’t just take my word for it. The rule change is also opposed by business, labor and industry organizations alike, such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, the Associated General Contractors of America and the American Trucking Association.
Mr. Speaker, this is the wrong time to back away from investments in our infrastructure and job creation, and yet this is exactly what will result from this job-killing rule."
Source: Rep. Tim Bishop press release, Jan. 7, 2011